Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 75: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills the work experience options she makes available through FÁS; the terms and conditions for participating in these programmes and her plans to extend these programmes. [44618/10]

Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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The following are the work experience options currently available through FÁS: Work Placement Programme

The Work Placement Programme provides up to nine months work experience to unemployed people, including graduates, who have been unemployed for at least three months. The programme is open to employers in all sectors of the economy, including the private and public sectors, as well as the community and voluntary sectors.

The Programme is also open to those in receipt of Jobseekers Benefit and Josbseekers Allowance for a period of 3 months. The programme is also open to people in receipt of other Social welfare allowances/payments such as Disability Allowance, Blind Pension, Invalidity Pension, Illness Benefit or Lone parents allowance. Individuals in receipt of a disability or illness payment must get written approval from the Department of Social Protection to do rehabilitative work while participating in the Work Placement Programme to retain their disability payment.

Participants who are unemployed and not in receipt of a social welfare payment, can participate on the programme. However, they will not receive a payment from Social Welfare or any payment from FÁS or the employer while participating on the programme.

As of the 27th October 2010, 2,200 individuals had commenced their placements under the Work Placement Programme. Of these, 1,085 individuals have commenced on the graduate stream and 1,115 individuals have commenced on the non-graduate stream.

My Department is monitoring the progress of the Work Placement Programme on an ongoing basis to ensure that the programme meets the requirements of the unemployed, including unemployed graduates. The Government is currently considering a new training and internship type proposal. If this proposal is deemed to be feasible it may provide further work experience places for the unemployed. Supported Employment

The Supported Employment Programme is a labour market initiative, which aims to assist people with a disability to secure and maintain a job in the open labour market. The programme provides a range of supports to employers and people with a disability, through Job Coaches. The range of supports includes: individual needs assessment; vocational profiling and career planning; individual employment plan; job sourcing and job matching; work experience under the Workplace initiative; on-the-job support and coaching; advice and support to employers; follow-up support and mentoring to both employers and employees.

Participants can avail of the programme for up to18 months duration. The programme is delivered on behalf of FÁS by 23 local supported employment organisations.

The workplace element of the service provides a period of 5 to 7 weeks work experience. The participants retain their normal social welfare status and entitlements and they engage in normal work during this time. The participant receives a flat rate of €31.80 per week towards travel and meal expenses. This will be paid by the employer and reimbursed, in arrears, by FÁS. FÁS is responsible for employer's liability insurance.

In June 2010 there were 2,563 people participating in the Supported Employment Programme of which 202 were on work experience under the Workplace initiative and a further 812 in employment in the open labour market. Community Employment

Community Employment (CE) is an active labour market programme designed to provide eligible long-term unemployed people and other disadvantaged persons with an opportunity to engage in useful part-time work within their communities on a temporary, fixed-term basis. CE helps unemployed people to re-enter the active workforce by breaking their experience of unemployment through a return to a work routine and to assist them to enhance and develop both their technical and personal skills. The average hours per week are 19.5hrs or 39 hours per fortnight. There are currently 22,850 participants on the CE programme. The criteria for participating in the FÁS Community Employment Scheme (CE) are based on age and length of time in receipt of various social welfare payments, and are as follows:

Part-time Integration Option (PTI)This is a one year version of CE for people aged 25 years and over who are receiving social welfare payments for 12 months or more.

Part-time Job Option (PTJ)This is a three year version of CE, (based on annually renewable contracts) for people aged 35 years and over and who are receiving social welfare payments for 3 years or more.

Eligibility to participate on CE for both PTI and PTJ is linked to those in receipt of an Irish social welfare payment. Those persons not meeting the criteria under these options, or who are signing for credits, or receiving social welfare benefits from a different country, are not eligible to participate on CE.

In assessing eligibility for CE, recipients of JA or JB are allowed a maximum of 30 worked days in the 12 months prior to commencing.

From 3 April 2000, lifetime participation on CE by an individual will be limited to:

3 years (156 weeks) for persons under 55 years of age; 6 years (312 weeks) for persons of 55 years of age up to and including 65 years of age; Eligible persons in receipt of a qualifying disability-linked Social Welfare payment will be eligible for one additional year on CE over the standard maximum participation caps, i.e. 4 years maximum time on CE for those under 55 years of age (PTJ Option only), and 7 years maximum time for those between 55 and 65.

Participation on CE prior to 3 April 2000 is not counted. Offshore island residents are exempt from this participation cap, subject to the availability of places. Job Initiative

The Job Initiative (JI) programme was launched in July 1996 and continues to provide full-time employment for people who are 35 years of age or over, who were unemployed for five years or more, and in receipt of social welfare payments over that qualifying period before entering the programme.

The main purpose of JI is to assist long-term unemployed people to prepare for work opportunities by providing participants with work experience, training and development opportunities. FÁS operates the programme with a dedicated budget of €34.5 million for 2010. There are currently 1,300 participants, with this number decreasing annually due to retirement and other reasons. Following changes introduced in 2004 by the then Minister Enterprise, Trade and Employment, contracts for existing JI participants are renewed, allowing them the option to continue until they are 66 years of age. There is no recruitment to the programme due to this change.

JI participants are involved in a wide range of useful community services, including after-school care, breakfast clubs, homework clubs, gardening and security services. In addition, JI projects provide jobs in the social economy in administration and maintenance. The areas supported by these workers include community centres, crèches, enterprise centres and parish properties. The criteria for participating in the FÁS Community Employment Scheme (CE) are based on age and length of time in receipt of various social welfare payments, and are as follows:

Part-time Integration Option (PTI)This is a one year version of CE for people aged 25 years and over who are receiving social welfare payments for 12 months or more.

Part-time Job Option (PTJ)This is a three year version of CE, (based on annually renewable contracts) for people aged 35 years and over and who are receiving social welfare payments for 3 years or more.

The social welfare payments referred to above are: Jobseekers Benefit (JB); Jobseekers Allowance (JA); One Parent Family Payment (OPFP); Widows/Widowers Contributory Pension; Widows/Widowers Non-Contributory Pension; Deserted Wife's Benefit (DWB); Farm Assist (FA). Time spent in receipt of Carer's Allowance can also count towards the 12-month eligibility period (3 years for PTJ), but caring responsibilities must have ceased and the person must currently be in receipt of either JA, JB or OPFP.

The following persons are also eligible for participation on CE: People aged 18 years or over (35 years or over for PTJ) and who are currently in receipt of any of Disability Allowance, Blind Pension, Invalidity Pension and Illness Benefit for six months or more; Persons from the Travelling Community aged 18 years or over, who are unemployed and in receipt of Jobseekers Benefit, Jobseekers Allowance for any period (12 months for PTJ) or One Parent Family Payment for 1 year or longer. In the case of those under 18 years of age, a minimum of 12 months spent in a Travellers Training Centre is enough for eligibility; All refugees aged 18 years or over, as authenticated by the Department of Justice and Law Reform, in receipt of payments from the Department of Social Protection; Persons aged 18 years or over inhabiting the offshore islands; Ex-offenders aged 18 years or over (35 years or over for PTJ) and referred by the Probation Service. Also, Ex-offenders aged 18 and over (35 years or over for PTJ) and not referred by the Probation Service and in receipt of Jobseekers Allowance or Jobseekers Benefit for a period of one year or more (3 years for PTJ). Time spent as a prisoner is regarded as reckonable when considering the duration unemployed; Persons aged 18 years or over referred by the Drugs Task Force.Time spent on recognised training or employment programmes (such as a FÁS training course) can also be counted towards eligibility.

Eligibility to participate on CE for both PTI and PTJ is linked to those in receipt of an Irish social welfare payment. Those persons not meeting the criteria under these options, or who are signing for credits, or receiving social welfare benefits from a different country, are not eligible to participate on CE.

In assessing eligibility for CE, recipients of JA or JB are allowed a maximum of 30 worked days in the 12 months prior to commencing.

The participant wages grants (weekly gross) from January, 2010 are as follows: Participant Category (temporary/part-time) Grant € Participant without Dependants (Single adult rate) 216.00 Participant with an Adult Dependant (Single adult rate plus IQA) 346.10

Each Child Dependant (Full Rate) 29.80

Each Child Dependant (Half Rate) 14.90

FÁS has advised that some participants can continue to receive all or part of their Social Welfare payments while on Community Employment in addition to their FÁS allowances (e.g. lone parents and persons with a disability).

A detailed analysis of how FÁS allowances interact with social welfare payments will be conveyed separately to the deputy.